About

History

In March 1992, students from NC State joined UNC-Chapel Hill to demand a free-standing black cultural center. The following protests and demonstrations received national media attention and sparked conversations on race and separatism across college campuses.

During a Student Government forum in September 1992, black students at NC State criticized university leadership for neglecting the promise to create a free-standing African American Cultural Center. The next day, Technician published an opinion column by Steve Crisp that referred to members of the Black Awareness Council (BAC) as “Ku Klux Blacks.” In the Campus Forum section of the same issue, Jeff Rom called the BAC “a bunch of terrorists.”

Two days later, over 200 students gathered in the Brickyard and burned Technician newspapers to protest the racially-biased stories and the lack of African-American perspectives.

Nubian Message published its first issue on November 30, 1992 with the following letter from founder and Editor-in-Chief Tony Williamson:

To All My Nubian Brothers and Sisters – “What’s Up?”

I am proud to present to you the first issue of “The Nubian Message,” NCSU’s first African-American newspaper. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here and yes, we’re here to stay!

Despite the enthusiasm most of us have regarding the newspaper, there are many people, all different racial groups, who either do not understand the purpose of the newspaper, or are simply totally against it. Realizing that we can’t please everyone (nor will we ever attempt to), I hope that I can reach some of these people by explaining briefly the reasons for creating and the purposes of “The Nubian Message.”

As many people know, African American students across the country have been speaking out against what we feel to be unfair conditions on our campuses. At N.C. State, one of our main concerns has been unfair and unjust media coverage of the African American community on this campus. As hard as we have tried, our cries for justice have not been heard and our proposed solutions to our media problems have not been accepted thus far. Rather than sit around and wait for some fair coverage by that other paper on campus, “The Nubian Message has been created to represent the African American community at NCSU totally, truthfully, and faithfully. In doing so, we shall cover every aspect of African-American life at NCSU.

The vision I have for this newspaper, which is shared by everyone involved with it, is ambitious, but not unrealistic. The Nubian Message should and will be the media voice for African – Americans at N.C. State. It will be a publication in which people can learn about different aspects of our culture, as well as find useful information about State’s campus. With the concentrated efforts of our people, this vision can become a reality very soon.

Finally, it is important that everyone realize that this newspaper is not a racist publication. We are not seeking superiority, nor segregation; all we want is an equal voice on this campus and with the The Nubian Message, the door is open for us to have that voice.

In March 1994, NC State Student Media officially recognized Nubian Message as a permanent member, supplying the paper with funding and advisory support.

Nubian Message is currently a biweekly publication and one of five student-run outlets within NC State Student Media.

For our 25th anniversary, we compiled a list of frequently asked questions that covers everything from “what’s Student Media?” to “why do we have a black newspaper?”

Join the Team

All NC State students are welcome join the Nubian Message team! There are opportunities for those interested in writing, editing, design or photography and no experience is required. Contact Editor-in-Chief Elikem Dodor at nubian-editor@ncsu.edu for more information.

Advertise

Visit our Advertise page for more information on print and online advertisements.

Policies

Corrections
Any reader may submit corrections to nubian-editor@ncsu.edu. According to the NC State Student Media Corrections Policy, “all Student Media are obligated to correct any error they make as soon as possible, no matter the level of consequence for the error.”

Copyright Policy
Nubian Message abides by the NC State Student Media Copyright Policy. All content created for Student Media, including articles, designs, audio, video, photographs and other material, are copyrighted by NC State Student Media. Anyone seeking permission to replicate Nubian Message content should contact the Editor-in-Chief at nubian-editor@ncsu.edu.

Letters To The Editor

Anyone may submit a Letter to the Editor (~250 words) or a guest column (~400-600 words) to be published at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Publication is not guaranteed, but Nubian Message considers all work that is relevant to NC State students.

If you would like your work considered, please email the editor-in-chief at nubian-editor@ncsu.edu with your name, best contact information, NC State affiliation or title and the work you would like published.